Apparatus for trimming heel top lifts



July- 16, 1957 c. c. SAYLOR APPARATUS 1 R TRIMMING HEEL TOP LIFTS Filed March 21, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

CLYDE C. (SAYLOR BY A fiwzmflwa ATTORNEYS July 16, 1957 p. c. SAYLOR 2,799,030

' APPARATUS F'OR TRIMMING HEEL. TOP LIFTS Filed March 21, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. F229. 4 v AI 06 CZJAYLOR BY v {mafia glwvl JTTOPNEYJ United States Patent APPARATUS FOR TRHVIMIN G HEEL TOP-LIFTS Clyde C. Saylor, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to The Auto- Soler Company, a corporation of Georgia Application March 21, 1955, Serial No. 495,646

2 Claims. (CI. 12-85) This invention relates to apparatus arranged to particular advantage for trimming top lifts for the heels of ladies shoes, and which may also be employed for other similar purposes, such as for trimming shoe soles and the like.

In shoe repair work, a frequently recurring job is that of repairing the heels of ladies shoes. Such heels are usually formed with a small wear cap of leather or other material varying in thickness from about A" to 71 and this wear cap is commonly referred to as a top lift. The top lift is the heel portion that wears away as the shoe is worn and that must be replaced to keep the heel in proper repair, and the trimming apparatus of the present invention is adapted especially for use in replacing top lifts that have become worn.

In replacing a top lift, a shoe repairman uses a piece of top lift material that is somewhat larger in area than the end of the heel being repaired, and the repair job consists in fashioning a top lift from this material to fit the heel properly. This is commonly done by first attaching the larger piece of top lift material to the heel, then cutting the attached material by hand with a knife so that it approximates the size of the heel end (i. e., so that it extends about 4 to beyond the end edges of the heel), and then the top lift is finished to size, burnished, and waxed or dyed, and polished, all with the aid of machine accessories.

The trimming apparatus of the present invention provides means by which the above noted hand cutting operation may be eliminated and its purpose accomplished rapidly and efficiently by machine, as the succeeding operations are. Generally characterized, this trimming apparatus comprises a plate member arranged as a work support, with a fixed cutting blade mounted flush therewith, a movable cutting knife pivoted for cutting action with the fixed blade, and a guide member disposed for shrouding the pivoted cutting knife and for positioning Work on the plate member for trimming at the cutting blade, as described in further detail below in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying the trimming apparatus of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section corresponding generally to Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail taken substantially on the line 4-4 in Fig. 3.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the illustrated embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing, as indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, having a top 12 and opposite sides 14; with a cover plate, indicated generally by the reference numeral 16, attached at the front of the housing in covering relation. The cover plate 16 has the outer front face thereof at 18 formed flat and smooth to provide a work supporting surface about an opening 20 arranged more or less centrally therein.

Within the housing 10, a bracket 22 is attached at the top housing portion 12 so as to extend to the front cover plate opening 20. This bracket 22 carries the previously mentioned fixed blade at 24 so that it is disposed in the opening 20 flush with the outer work supporting face 18 of the cover plate 16; has a movable cutting knife 26, as also previously mentioned, pivoted thereon at 28, by means of a bell crank 30, for cutting action with the fixed blade 24 upon pivoting from a retracted position spaced outwardly with respect to the outer face 18 of cover plate 16; supports a guide member 32 arranged to shroud the movable cutting knife 26 at its retracted position and to position work at the outer cover plate face 18 for trimming at the fixed blade 24; and has a crank shaft 34 journalled thereon for cyclically pivoting the movable cutting knife 26 from its retracted position for cutting action with the fixed blade 24.

The movable cuttingknife 26 proper comprises a tip' having a shank portion 36 fixed in the adjacent end of the bell crank by a set screw 38, the tip portion of the cutting knife 26 being inset against a positioning shoulder 40 formed at this bell crank end to hold it in vproper alignment, and the cutting knife tip portion being hollowed transversely adjacent its extending end, as shown at 42, so as to arrange sharpened end and adjacent side edge cutting portions thereon as indicated at 44.- The fixed blade 24 is in turn notched as at 46 (compare Figs. 1 and 3) for cutting action with this form of cutting knife 26. In this connection, it should also be noted that the cutting knife 26 is pivoted at 28 on an axis spaced outwardly from the outer cover plate face 18 so that the extending end cutting edge of the knife 26 moves away from the fixed blade 24 as it passes the cutting edge thereof.

The pivoting motion of this cutting blade 26 is effected by the crankshaft 34 through a crankplate 48 mounted at one end thereof to carry a crankpin 50 from which a crank rod 52 is connected to the purchase arm of the bell crank 30 at 54. A pulley 56 is mounted at the other end of the crankshaft 34 with a drive connection 58 running thereto from an electric motor 60 supported within the housing 10 and controlled by suitable switch means arranged conveniently for access exteriorly of the housing 10 as seen at 62 in Fig. 2. The motor 60 is located rearwardly within the housing 10 so as to allow use of a rearwardly disposed mounting bracket 64 by which the device may be supported at either horizontal or vertical attaching surfaces (as indicated in full and broken lines, respectively, in Fig. 2), and which provides for accommodation of a chute member 66 at the inner face of the cover plate 16, below the opening 20 thereinv for catching work material trimmed at the fixed blade 24 and directing these trimmings to any suitable collection container (not shown).

In operating the trimming apparatus of the present invention the switch means 62 shown in Fig. 2 is shifted to its' on position so as to connect the drive motor 60 and start the cyclic pivoting of the cutting knife 26. A shoe S with an oversize piece of top lift material T attached at the end of the heel H thereof is then placed on the outer work supporting face 18 of the cover plate 16 with the heel H bearing against the guide member 32, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. The cutting knife 26 begins to remove the excess top lift material T at the fixed blade 24 as soon as this position is reached, and by rotating the shoe S, while maintaining the heel H bearing at the guide member 32, the top lift material T may be trimmed closely around the entire end of the heel H, small segments of the excess top lift material T being successively removed as the shoe S is rotated, and the cutting knife 26 being pivoted by the bell crank 30 at a relatively close spacing with respect to the fixed blade 24 so as to allow such rotation of the shoe S as indicated in broken lines at S in Fig. 2. The trimming operation may be carried out very rapidly in this manner and with consistently-dependable results that eliminate entirely the tediousness .and.,special care involved .in the hand trimming previouslyrequired.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only. andis not intended to be limited by'this description .or otherwise .exceptas defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus. for trimming heel top lifts and the like comprising a work supporting .plate with an Opening formed therein,.mo.unting meansdisposedaat said opening on one side of said plate, said mounting means carrying a fixed blade in said opening flush with the opposite side :of said plate, having a vbell .crank pivoted thereon about an axis spaced relatively close .to..said fixed blade and outwardly from said opposite plate side with a cutting knife fixed on the adjacent arm of said bell crank for cutting action with said fixed blade, and supporting a guide arranged for .shrouding said cutting knife at said opposite plate side and for positioning work on said opposite plate side for trimming at said blade, and means for pivoting said bell crank and thereby moving said knife for cuttingaction with said blade.

2. Apparatus for trimming heel top lifts and the like comprising a housing having a top and opposite sides, a cover plate attached at the front of said housing in covering relation and formed with an opening, a bracket mounted in said housing and extending to said cover plate opening, said bracket carrying a fixed blade in said opening flush with the outer face of said cover plate, having a bell crank pivoted thereon about an axis spaced relatively close to said fixed blade and outwardly with respect to the outer face of said cover plate with a cutting knife fixed on the adjacent arm of said bell crank for cutting action with said blade, supporting a guide arranged for shrouding said knife at said outer cover plate face and. for positioning work on said outer face for trimming at. said blade, and having crank means journalled thereon and connected with the remote arm of said bell crank for cyclically pivoting said bell crank to reciprocate said knife for cutting action with said blade, and means contained in said housing for driving said crank means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 268,440 Trowbridge Dec. 5, 1882 922,697 Hadaway May 25, 1909 1,622,053 Rounds Mar. 22, 1927 1,812,350 Lingwood June 30, 1931 1,994,086 Olsen Mar. 12, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,526 Great Britain of 1887 238,324 Switzerland Oct. 16, 1945 271,588 Great Britain June 2, 1927 

